Jazz Articles

like 234

Manami Morita: Colors

by Ian Patterson
February 5, 2010

The cover of Color, pianist Manami Morita's debut recording as leader, is a mosaic of child-like drawings, all round shapes and primary colors. It's somehow a reflection of her music which is unselfconsciously joyous and optimistic. There are few shades and little introspection in her playing, only boldness and, like the colors of nature, harmony.

The trio interplay is tight; bassist Zak Croxall and drummer Tom Hartman have played with Morita for some time and the three have already recorded ...

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Wadada Leo Smith: Spiritual Dimensions

by Nic Jones
February 5, 2010

Wadada Leo SmithSpiritual DimensionsCuneiform2009 Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith's journey into music is now so far advanced that every record of his is akin to a report from a new place, a musical equivalent of a space probe sending information back from the surface of an alien planet. The other worldly implications of this are well defined over the course of this two disc set in which Smith features in two different group ...

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Frencesco Diodati NEKO: Purple Bra

by Mark Corroto
February 5, 2010

The history of jazz has always favored the partnership of strong personalities, especially those of guitar and tenor saxophone collaborations. Memorable pairings have included: Jim Hall and Sonny Rollins, Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano, and Kurt Rosenwinkel and Mark Turner. Add to that list two Italian artists, guitarist Francesco Diodati and saxophonist Francesco Bigoni.

They make up half of Diodati's band NEKO, along with bassist Francesco Ponticelli and drummer Ermanno Baron. The quartet's debut, Purple Bra, highlights the ...

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Indra: Indra

by Jakob Baekgaard
February 5, 2010

Thanks to the unpredictable ways of life, Indra Rios-Moore, a female jazz singer from Manhattan, has ended up in Denmark where she now lives with her husband whom she met in New York in the spring of 2006. The reason for the move was love, but in the case of Indra, love and music are closely connected. Her husband is the Danish saxophonist Benjamin Traerup and together with the bassist Thomas Sejthen, they decided to form the ...

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Betty Bryant: No Regrets

by Dee Dee McNeil
February 5, 2010

Fondly referred to as the “Cool Miss B," Betty Bryant is a native of Kansas City who relocated to Los Angeles in 1955. One of a thimble full of stalwart female pianists and vocal stylists, Bryant packed the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood in November, 2009 to celebrate the release of her appropriately titled No Regrets and her 80th birthday. By the look of the SRO (standing room only) turnout, she needn't have a single compunction; this talented lady and ...

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Steve Colson: The Untarnished Dream

by Terrell Kent Holmes
February 5, 2010

The embracing of jazz tradition while simultaneously reinterpreting is pianist Adegoke Steve Colson's pedigree and he continues to enrich us with every challenging note. The Untarnished Dream is more than a standard jazz trio session. With bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille as fellow standard bearers, Colson vividly interprets several original tunes he has composed throughout his distinguished (if somewhat overlooked) career. Colson's writing skills and the trio's musical excellence are on display immediately. The cleverly ...

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David Sanborn: Only Everything

by Joel Roberts
February 5, 2010

Only Everything is alto saxophonist David Sanborn's second straight release paying homage to one of his greatest and earliest influences, Ray Charles. While some jazz purists may dismiss Sanborn as a slick TV personality and practitioner of smooth or pop jazz, he's always had firm roots in bluesy, R&B-based jazz, dating to his early days playing with the likes of Albert King and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. And along with his more commercially calculated recordings, he's released some excellent ...

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Matthew Shipp: 4D

by Robert Iannapollo
February 5, 2010

Since his emergence at the start of the 1990s, pianist Matthew Shipp seems to have fostered an infinite number of options available to him. From his free jazz alliances to his electronic beat explorations (also taking into account memberships in the groups of David S. Ware and Roscoe Mitchell), Shipp seems to like to mix it up. But periodically he releases a solo CD that functions as breathing space for him. His last solo outing was One ...

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Michael Cuscuna of Mosaic Records

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 4, 2010

This interview was originally published in July 2000. Founded in 1983, Mosaic Records continues to set the standards as one of the finest reissue companies on the scene. Their definitive boxed sets have culled the vaults of such labels as Blue Note, Pacific Jazz, Capitol, CBS, Verve, Roulette, Decca, Atlantic, and Reprise. Some of the artists to have been represented by these luxury sets have included Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Shorty Rogers, Bud Powell, Tina Brooks, Larry Young, ...

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Jack DeJohnette, Project/Object, William Bell and Johnny Winter

by Martin Longley
February 4, 2010

The Jack DeJohnette GroupBirdlandJanuary 6, 2010 This was the second night of a residency featuring the debut of a new fusion-orientated quintet. Drummer Jack DeJohnette is no stranger to electrification, but this lineup presented an intriguing proposition, confounding the audience in any attempt to predict exactly where the music would roam. The front line features alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa and guitarist David Fiuczynski, immediately suggesting the prospect of an aggressively modernist vanguard. On keyboards ...